Midsummer Clichés
by Wired Heart
Summary: Set a la PoA when Harry visits The Leaky Cauldron and what "happens"


bDisclaimer/b: I own absolutely nothing but the idea of Lin, and nothing else. Woohoo!  
  
P  
  
Lin Schminks sat boredly staring out of the window. She was 13 years old, pureblood Ravenclaw and ... dirt poor.  
  
It was summertime, a time when most her age were sprawled out eating ice cream and not thinking about anything but idle days swimming in lakes.  
  
For Lin, that was barely even a dream. Every summer since she could remember, she and her single mother would trek down to the Leaky Cauldron and work the whole summer doing odd jobs for Lin's great uncle Tom. Now that she was of age, She was spending most of the year at Hogwarts, but if she weren't, she'd be with her mother ironing robes at St. Mungo's all year long, with her mother.   
  
She could remember doing laundry at St. Mungo's as a tiny 6 years old girl, and even when she was 10. The summers were her favourite during those days, because there she would waitress for people, and they always thought she was so cute and tipped her nicely, which meant she could buy a few sweets with that money.   
  
P  
  
Luckily, things were a bit better for her. As mentioned before, she was at Hogwarts now. Besides the fact that her books were falling apart and her robes a bit mangy, she was happy just like any other student.   
  
But she wasn't thinking about this, or rather she was trying not to. When she was young, she'd enjoyed the summers at the Leaky Cauldron, but now she longed for Hogwarts and her friends.   
  
P  
  
Nothing spectacular had happened so far this summer, and she doubted anything would either.   
  
P  
  
She continued to stare out of the window, it was night time, the one time that there would be no shrill calls of her name, requesting her aid at some chore.   
  
P  
  
Just then, the monotonous view of Charing Cross Road, London was broken. The Knight Bus (a site she recognized easily - it was her mothers preferred method of traveling) had rolled in front. She recognized Ern and Stan; the two had been working there for as long as she could remember. Stan threw a boys trunk out of the door, and the boy fallowed. Lin squinted her eyes at the boy, trying to get a better view of him. She nearly fell out of the window seat when she realized whom it was. Harry Potter! The Harry Potter! She'd seen him many times around school, accompanied by his friends. It was just odd – she could hardly imagine Harry Potter taking the Knight Bus! She stared harder, and saw Fudge, the Minster of Magic come strolling out of the pub itself. That wasn't very surprising; she'd seen him come in an hour or so before. She was so curious as to why on earth Harry Potter was here at this hour; she grabbed a bathrobe and headed downstairs, deciding on an easy story of getting thirsty, and hoping to "accidentally" spot Potter and question Tom.   
  
P  
  
To Lin's dismay, by the time she had come down, faked a few yawns and gotten some water and looked around and found Tom, they were gone. BR  
  
"Evening Mr. Tom." She said; using the name she'd called him since she was small.BR  
  
"Hello, Linny." He said, his eye on a door to her left.BR  
  
"Do we have guests? This early?" She said, obviously trying to sound surprised.BR  
  
"Yep, and rather important ones too... Harry Potter and Cornelius Fudge."BR  
  
"Wow, really? But it's awfully early for them to be here." She said, widening her eyes in innocent shock, before taking a long sip of water.BR  
  
"Yep, it most certainly is..." He said. BR  
  
P  
  
Lin sighed, she knew that Tom was going to be impossible to get any more information out of; he was much to busy thinking of future plans. BR  
  
A few minutes later, Tom made a quick dash outside and returned with Harry's things.BR  
  
"Lin, could you be a dear and put these into room 11?" He asked, and Lin eagerly obliged.BR  
  
Soon after, Lin sat at a stool behind the bar, in the shadows starring at the door along with Tom, when Fudge came out. BR  
  
"Tom, Harry here needs to stay until Hogwarts… safety reasons, you know why. Any rooms free?"BR  
  
"Yes, of course." He paused as if to think, "Room 11 is free."BR  
  
"Can you accompany Harry up to his room, Tom?" Fudge said, and Lin noticed a bit of worry in his voice.BR  
  
"But of course!" BR  
  
P  
  
And the two of them disappeared into the room, returned five minutes later with Harry. BR  
  
P  
  
"If you'll fallow me, Mr. Potter, I've already taken your things up..." He said, smiling at him, and then winked at Lin. A cloud moved across the sky, and Lin was hidden from view, and Harry did not notice her presence, as she watched Tom and Harry climb the stairs to his room.  
  
P  
  
Lin sat, noticing as she attempted to take another sip, that her tankard was empty and it was late. She sighed, curious as to why the famous Harry Potter was here.BR She climbed the stairs to the highest room, the one that branched in two, one for her mother and one for her, and slid into bed and instantly fell asleep.  
  
That night, she dreamed of Harry, walking in on her doing dishes and joking around with her, splashing her with water, and she splashed him back before he hugged her and flew away on a broomstick.  
  
She awoke in the morning and did not remember this dream at all.   
  
A/N: Okay for a first, no? --; 


End file.
